1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication device, a communication system, a computer program product.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional system is known where various settings and requests are made to a plurality of network-connected image forming apparatuses from a personal computer (PC) or a different image forming apparatus. As one of such technologies, a system is known that distributes an address book from a digital multifunctional peripheral (MFP) to a different digital multifunctional peripheral.
An example of a system that has a plurality of network-connected image forming apparatuses is a system that has become popular in recent years and that uses, for example, an apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a “multifunctional peripheral”) that has a printer, scanner, facsimile, and copy functions, and the like, in combination and that is connected to a network such as a LAN.
In such a system, for example, a single PC, a single printer, or a single multifunctional peripheral is used for controlling a number of image forming apparatuses that are connected to a LAN so as to perform a central control on the settings of these image forming apparatuses. A user makes a specific setting by using the control apparatus so that the setting is automatically distributed to a number of image forming apparatuses connected to the LAN.
Because of the provision of such a function, a setting for a sheet discharge in the copy function, e.g., a setting for “always copying to both sides of a sheet when reading two one-side printed originals with blank reverse sides” can be a standard setting, for example, in an office that uses the system. Specifically, the function can be used such that simply making a setting on one PC or multifunctional peripheral causes the automatic distribution of the setting to the other multifunctional peripherals. Thus, it is possible to avoid the trouble of having to manually make settings, one by one, to all the multifunctional peripherals that have a copy function and are located in the office.
Furthermore, for instance, for management of charging for print copies by using a department ID, the setting of the department ID in one printer or multifunctional peripheral can cause the automatic distribution of the setting to the other apparatuses. Thus, it is possible to reduce the inconvenience of charge management, i.e., having to individually set the department ID in a number of printers or multifunctional peripherals.
For development of communication software to be used in the useful system as described above, an evaluation test is often conducted so as to check and guarantee functions of the software. The evaluation test has become increasingly important because of the increasing likelihood of communication errors in accordance with the increasing number of printers or multifunctional peripherals connected to the system.
The evaluation for communication software is performed by conducting a series of tests, such as an operation check or debugging, with respect to, for example, a “distributing function” for settings, and the like, using distribution-side software or a “receiving function” for settings, and the like, using reception-side software.
A conventional evaluation method is a method using an actual printer or multifunctional peripheral body or a special hardware device as a simulator corresponding to the above devices.
For testing a system that uses a plurality of devices, the cost of preparing the devices becomes higher as the scale of the system becomes larger.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-046569, there is a method for emulating a plurality of clients by using one PC. Although it is indicated in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-046569 that one PC is used to operate a plurality of virtual clients, an individual virtual client does not have an independent communication function. In such a configuration, for an evaluation of parallel communication processing for a plurality of devices, a communication function such as a network board is a bottleneck. Therefore, there is a possibility that performance cannot be properly measured, and the method cannot be used for performance evaluation. Furthermore, in order to perform a detailed evaluation of performance, it is possible to acquire an actual value by using an actual device other than a virtual client.